Box Score Mankato, Minn.  --- Fifth-rated Minnesota capitalized on special teams play on the way to a 6-0 win at Minnesota State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup Saturday afternoon at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in downtown Mankato.
 
The visiting Gophers, who received a five-point effort on two goals and three assists from senior center Taylor Heise in the contest, tallied two power play goals along with a pair of shorthanded tallies in earning their fourth victory of the season over the Mavericks.
 
The host Mavericks trailed 1-0 after the first 20 minutes of action after a turnover in the neutral zone morphed into a shorthanded goal by Heise at 4:55. Minnesota outshot Minnesota State by a 13-6 margin in the period.
 
Heise got her second goal of the game at 6:52 of the second when she roofed a backhander over the right shoulder of Maverick netminder Alexa Berg.  The Gophers tallied their second shorthanded marker of the contest on a one-timer by Abbey Murphy off a pass from behind the net from Heise at 9:15.
 
Abigail Boreen registered a five-on-three power play goal at 12:12 of the third and 29 seconds later fired a shot that beat Berg high on the gloveside to make it a 5-0 Minnesota lead.  Ella Huber deflected a shot into the net at 19:44 for the final goal of the game.
 
The Gophers, who upped their record to 12-3-2, 11-1-2 WCHA, owned a 50-14 advantage in shots on goal in the contest with Berg turning aside 44 shots for the Mavericks.
 
The Mavericks (7-9-0 overall, 5-9-0 WCHA) continue league play next Friday and Saturday with the University of Wisconsin visiting Mankato.

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